iPod/mp3 for a child

[quicksand]

My 7 year old daughter has Autism. Music really has a calming effect on her. She has a portable CD player but the batteries die after just a few hours of playing. Plus after changing all of the CDs around so much, many of them have scatches. I thought the ipod/mp3 would be the way to go, but which one? There are so many choices. I would like for it to be able to play the music that we already have and also for it to play a few videos. It MUST have a long battery life and be rechargable. Anyone have any suggestions? :mickey:

[Tinkermom]

DH just got me the iPod Nano for Christmas. I love it as it is small and I can easily choose my songs. It does play videos/movies and since DH also got me a special adapter for the car it charges while I use it to play music in my car. I would like to get myself an armband or something so that I can jog with it easily. I can also put it in my pocket.

Our 11 year old DS has the same iPod that I do and our 6 year old DD has the iPod shuffle. I like the iPod shuffle for DD as it is small and she like to clip it directly to her clothing. She LOVES it. :cloud9:

As for battery life, we just always plug ours into the chargers at night so we never run out of battery.:thumbsup:

[Aurora]

My 11-year-old DD asked anyone who was going to get her a birthday present to please consider an Apple gift card instead. With her other savings she had enough to buy a classic iPod and it is her most treasured possession! (Also a good "take-away" disciplinary tool ;) .)

It is rechargeable in your computer as well as through a plug-in adapter to your wall. It holds a large number of songs and movies. The nice thing about it is that with iTunes it's easy to put music from your current CDs on your computer or you can buy new songs/movies on iTunes and download them right to your iPod.

We have an Apple store near us and the customer service is superb, including fixes. I've never had to use the phone number so I'm not sure about the customer service there.

How is your daughter with ear buds? My only complaint is that the ear buds that come with the iPod don't fit in my ears very well. They work fine for my daughter.

Overall the iPod is a win-win for us: I get veto power over what my daughter wants to listen to instead of just letting her listen to so much of the garbage that's on the popular radio stations these days. And she's fine with it because she gets to listen to her favorite songs.

I never had any desire for an iPod until my daughter got one -- now I want one for me.

[laughingplace<3]

I have the 3rd generation iPod nano (the new one) and I love it. One of my good friends also has a zune and loves it too- it does everything an iPod can do, AND has radio accessability. I am a big fan of a certain radio station and like to listen to it all the time, so I find the fact that I decided to get an iPod frusterating because now I wish I had the zune to listen to my station.:mad:

[pink]

My 11 year old brother is austistic as well and we just got him the old version of the Ipod Nano for Christmas off of Ebay. It was brand new in the packaging and I believe it was about 80 dollars. It comes with a cord that you can use to charge the Ipod on the computer or you can buy the attachment piece that lets you charge it in a electrical socket in the wall. My brother loves his Ipod more than any other gift and it was defintley worth it. Good Luck! :mickey:

[kakn7294]

Both of my DD's have Disney Mix Max (the one's with the video screens) players and they love them. The batteries last a long time - I've charged Megan's once since Christmas - and they are super easy to use. I'd definately recommend one of those for kids and I even like it. They generally run about $100.00 in stores but I bought the latest one on Ebay for $62 including shipping. As for a non-Disney one, I bought DH a really nice little Sony MP3 for Father's Day last year. He uses it to run and although the battery life lasts about 2 weeks worth of running, it recharges very quickly and it only cost about $50.00 at Circuit City.

[Flower]

You mention videos - look into the IPod classic, we have the 160GB.

We specifically got the 160 so we could put some movies on it for our 4 year old so he has it when we travel, or just even going to the grocery store. Brandon loves it and he can use it just fine (Mom still needs a little training though!!!)

It also comes with 2 games and he likes the Vortex game. I honestly thought DH was crazy for suggesting buying it, but I am glad we chose the bigger memory.

We really did get the IPod for me, but with Brandon in mind. It was an awesome addition on our recent 22 hour drive to and from WDW.

I actually downloaded Tetris and Poker before we left; he $12 expense was well worth it for the trip, and literally the price of 2 magazines.

DH has the nano and has maxed out the capacity rather quickly, in fact he had to download podcasts & audio books onto mine for the trip because he had no room left on his.

Both the Nano & Classic are recharged either by plugging it into the computer, an outlet, or the car lighter. (You need special cables for the outlet & car lighter). The charge lasts a long time, less time when you play movies/games.

Have your daughter try both of them too. Personally, I find the Nano is too small and touchy - I prefer the Classic because it is a little bit bigger and does not seem as touchy as DH's. DH went with the Nano as he is a runner and wanted something smaller/compact.

I'd say the main thing to consider is the memory capacity before you buy.

[magicofdisney]

The iPod classic (80GB) is only slightly more expensive than the iPod nano (8GB). I believe they both support video. To me it's a no-brainer if that's true. I'm guessing the nano is slightly smaller in size and weight.

[DisneyDudet]

I have both the iPod and the Microsoft Zune. After having two iPods, the Zune is great.

The interface is way easier to use, plus you can get a converter, and convert DVDs you already own to a format playable on the Zune. I would think that you could with the iPod, but it just seems easier with the Zune. The only drawback to the Zune is that the shop online is much more limited than the iTunes store, which is pretty limited as well.

I would scope out the Zune as well as the iPod.

You could probably find a 30g Zune out there at Buy or ebay for less than $100. I got my zune of Woot.com.